Butter headquarters is coming to you this morning from The Land of Enchantment – New Mexico! Jeremy has a meeting here and since we are fans of the multi-tasking, I suggested we stop in Albuquerque on the drive down, to… you know, SHOOT THE ANNULAR SOLAR ECLIPSE?!

Albuquerque was along that narrow swath to get a perfect ring when the moon passed between our sun and our beloved planet. Jeremy, native son of New Mexico, suggested getting a high vantage from someplace like Sandia Crest, 5000 feet above Albuquerque. Several hundreds (thousand or more?) had the same idea… The forest service had the tremendous task of managing parking and emergency services while throngs of excited people flocked to the long north-south ridge crest. My National Parks Annual Pass got us in the door (they turned cars away that didn’t have a recreation pass – those folks parked further down the road).

to my south: my setup and fellow eclipse watchers

to my north – more eclipse watchers

For those wanting to know, here is what I shot with: my main system was the Nikon D3X with the Nikkor 500mm f4 lens (lens courtesy of Pro Photo Rental, they are the best!) and a sheet of Baader Astrosolar safety film courtesy of Doug Duncan, the Director of the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado, Boulder. My second system was the Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8. My third system was the iphone.

the sun, high in the sky

It took 30 minutes to scout out a proper location without obstructions and without getting in anyone’s way (remember, you want a clear path all the way to sunset). We finally settled among a group of the nicest people from New Mexico, Texas, and even two charming gentleman from as far away as the UK! There was a buzz of excitement in the air, even with over an hour to wait before anything actually happened. Jeremy and I had our handy solar eclipse glasses we purchased from our local hardware store (McGuckin – they’re awesome!). We purchased a dozen extras and proceeded to hand them out to anyone who needed a pair. [One New Mexico resident, Joseph Woods, was so appreciative he gave me his card and said I could select one of his artworks as a thank you - so sweet!] Before long, people were sharing food and filters and everyone was so damn nice! We should have eclipses more often.

the view over the rio grande rift valley

getting dimmer during the eclipse, but it was still incredibly bright out

Around 6:31pm (according to my camera time stamp), the moon began to take a small nibble out of the bottom right corner of the sun. We had about an hour to totality (when the moon is directly centered on the sun – in this case, the annular eclipse results in a ring). Mine was likely the most powerful magnification in my vicinity, and since eclipses are thankfully slow, I offered to let my neighbors look through the camera at the sun, sunspots, the shadow of the moon throughout the phases. SCIENCE!!! I photographed the disc of the sun with the big guns, but Jeremy reminded me of other fun things like eclipse shadows and pinhole projections.

pinhole projection on the only paper i had

cool eclipse shadows from the leaves projected on a rock (photo by jeremy)

the sun at totality – it’s still super bright

pinhole projection at totality

When the eclipse reached totality around 7:30pm, the entire ridge rose in a roar of hoots, hollers, joyful shouts, cheers, and clapping! Even the dogs (there were tons of doggies) began to howl when they heard everyone rejoicing. It was incredible and so special. Through the eclipse glasses, which give the sun an orange tint, it looked like The One Ring. So here are some shots of the sun through the solar filter:

moon takes a bite of the first sunspot

almost to the second sunspot

third sunspot is up next

almost closing the loop – you can see some topography of the moon in silhouette

totality (commence the howling!!)

breaking the ring

By this point, the sun was hanging low in the sky. It would set before the eclipse was over, but this was the part I was most excited for. A good fraction of the eclipse watchers began packing up and leaving – it was getting pretty chilly too. But the dedicated and the curious remained to see it finish out. The sun began to dim and turn its lovely warm colors. As it neared the horizon of sprawling New Mexico mesas, the sun started distorting and flattening (thank you, atmosphere).

turning orange

giving back the sunspots

getting oranger yet

flattening out

I finally felt it was safe enough to remove my filter to shoot the setting sun without damaging my camera sensor or my eye! Everyone clicked away or marveled at the sight before them – a partially eclipsed setting sun. Land of Enchantment, indeed.

you can see the sunspots (no filter)

still looks full, doesn’t it?

dropping behind the horizon

disappearing shark fin

sharkfin (wide)

Well, I hope you enjoyed those photographs. What an experience and what an amazing world we live in! Were you able to see all or any of the annular solar eclipse? I’m heading south for more shooting, but will hopefully get a recipe up for you later in the week. For now, enjoy the eclipse and be nice to one another. xo

I’ve never had the courage to post before but I just had to do it for these (although everything you post is also fantastic! keep them coming please :) )These photos look amazing! much better than the other ones on news sites :) Thank you! as I’m from the east coast so we can’t witness the eclipse from here xD

That shark fin photo is out of this world. What a weird image! And so cool. Yay science! I wish we could have seen it on the East Coast, but I think your photos are the next best thing to being there myself :)

These photos are soooo gorgeous!! I live in the East Coast so we totally missed out on the whole eclipse hype… but I had a feeling you would be getting shots of them, so I knew to look here for them! Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos!

Once again, one of the reasons I’m so glad I discoverd you, Jen. These are truly beautiful photos. I watched it just west of Sacramento where we had a great open sky view long before sunset here. My host just happened to have two welders hats so we had fun looking dorky sharing the hats between us.
Jeanne

Wow, magnificent photos! And you’re so right about the eclipse bringing out the love in everybody. We went to a local park (in N. CA) to view the eclipse and didn’t know anybody there. But by the time the eclipse reached totality, adults were sharing food, stories, and solar eclipse glasses while kids were running around and playing together. Such a great memory for the whole family.

Brilliant photos ! I’ve never seen the sun spots before. Thanks to you, now I can say that I have seen them even if only from your photos. Can u tell us more about the pinhole projection ? How did u do that ?

Thank you so much for sharing you beautiful pictures. I haven’t had the opportunity to witness an eclipse. You just changed that. It was a very lucky day for me when I found your blog. Your recipes are a magnificent and your pictures make me feel like I am there experiencing it. God Bless for sharing

Zita – lucky!! How wonderful that must have been (my UK neighbors during the eclipse traveled to Hungary to see that one!)

Anna – thank you for commenting and hello! Part of the reason I like shooting these things is that I get to share with others who may not be able to witness it (and in turn, I appreciate what other photogs share when they are able to view amazing things that I cannot see!) :)

Sharon – Good thing I didn’t disappoint, although I just know one day I’m going to get clouded out or something ;)

Connie – thank you.

Jeanne – I’m sure that was terrific to see, and no one was watching you in your welders hats because everyone was looking at the sun :)

Rocky Mountain Woman – thanks.

joanne – thank you for visiting!

Eva – :)

Katrina – ha ha!!

Judy – it’s such an incredible view. I love being there smelling the pine forests and feeling the cool air <3

Jessica – 2017 is the next one!

Tamar – silly!! ;) I worship you right back, hon. xo

wanG – thanks, I like the shark fin too :)

Pauline – you’re so welcome!

Jen – absolutely, sharing is one of the best parts of this.

Memoria – thanks.

Jen – that sounds fantastic. I wish we had them more often :)

Ginger G – of course, you are very welcome!

Kathleen – thank you!

Ruth Ann – :)

Barbara – xoxo

Claudia – nice!! I was wondering where you guys would be. Can’t wait to see Michael’s images. I loved your iphone shot of the parking lot filled with rings!

Pru – yay for mums!!

Parag – thank you.

Reni – Sure thing! The pinhole projection is exactly what its name describes. Punch a pinhole through a card or sheet of paper (really, use a pin so that it is little). Hold it up to the sun and look at the shadow it casts (preferably on something flat and white). The light coming through the pinhole will show the shape of the sun during eclipse. Some folks have nice setups and project it large so people can watch it – super cool :)

Debbie – xo

Kristin – I’ll post that Monday xo

cherie – you’re welcome. Thanks for coming by!

Nate – wow, isn’t the internet great? :)

laura h – the passes get you into most of the recreational jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. Google the annual park pass and read the description for the full coverage.

Leeann – oh yes, please share with kids! I hope he enjoys them.

Jill – :)

Gina – you’re very sweet.

Ellen – you’re welcome!

JulieT – thanks!

Melanie – absolutely, it is my pleasure.

Carol – thank you!

Libby – glad you enjoyed them.

Jenny – :)

Chris – thank you, you’re so kind to say.

Kari – hi and thanks for commenting :) I was hoping Folsom had a decent show since there were so many people there! I heard you guys got to see some of it though, so that’s better than total clouds!

Wow, súch great pictures! We had so much luck, we are passing our holidays in USA right now and have been in Canyonlands NP for the eclipse. As I didn`t get any filter in Brazil for my camera, I decided not to shoot it, also as it was not the whole ring anyway we got at this place! We were just so shocked, how unprepeared the people went to see the eclipse, and how bad prepeared the park management was! That was really disapointing. But the experience at all was quite something! The stunning background just was the right setting for this great happening!

Haha I am always amused by the gluten-free confusion over glutinous rice flour… second only to the confusion over buckwheat :-) I keep wanting to try mochi and this may just put me over the edge to do it.

There is a fantastic small, no-kill shelter near where I live called pets without parents. We got our most recent little kitten there.